


Once Upon a Time There Was You and Me

by Crimson Rosé (Poison_Rose)



Series: TsukiKage Prompts ☾♛ [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:21:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25873540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poison_Rose/pseuds/Crimson%20Ros%C3%A9
Summary: “It’s an encouragement…and a reward,” Kageyama answered simply while looking straight at the wall on the other side, before adding, “bestowed upon you by your King.”Tsukishima was pretty sure his breathing stopping for a second there. That…was hot.“It’s good to know that you’ve expanded your vocabularies, King,” he teased.Prompt 3: Reward
Relationships: Kageyama Tobio/Tsukishima Kei
Series: TsukiKage Prompts ☾♛ [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1859041
Comments: 5
Kudos: 159





	Once Upon a Time There Was You and Me

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from a song of the same name by Itou Eri.
> 
> I had too much fun narrating the match. Half the story is just me retelling the match against Shiratorizawa…
> 
> English is not my first language. No beta.

Title: Once Upon a Time There Was You and Me

Prompt: 3 – Reward

The gymnasium was loud, but Tsukishima couldn’t hear anything. The cheering from the audience and the chants from Karasuno and Shiratorizawa cheering squads sounded like it came from a light year away, muffled. His senses were submerged in heavy air that to him felt like water. His lungs burned. Each intake of air felt like adding more stones to a pile of rocks already on top of them.

Tsukishima heard a whistle from the referee, signaling a serve, and he vaguely recalled that this time it was Sawamura’s. As soon as a soft thud of a hand connecting with the leather surface reached his ear, he willed his lead-like legs to move, to run to the side and jump for a block.

Kageyama was swiftly beside him on his right and Azumane on his left, both the needed height for Karasuno’s version of an iron wall.

Tsukishima watched with unrivalled concentration when the toss was sent to Ushijima. He counted the timing, a small sense of worthiness washed over him when the two teammates at the front zone waited for his signal. They trusted his block.

They jumped, and Ushijima’s was force to hit a straight, into the arms of Karasuno’s guardian angel who was already waiting. He reveled in Shiratorizawa’s setter, Shirabu, pissed-off face before pulling his attention back into the game.

Even though they managed to narrow the course of Ushijima’s spike, they lost the chance to counterattack and simply passed the ball back to the other side. Tsukishima observed Shiratorizawa’s setter closely.

The moment that a setter hated the most was when the spike they set up was blocked, Tsukishima learned from their very own genius setter. They had played two sets, and every time a spike came while Tsukishima was upfront, he made sure to touch them as many times as he can, stopping the ball’s momentum enough for his teammate to follow up and applying immense pressure on the opposing setter at the same time. And if Tsukishima’s analysis was correct, the time for the copper-haired setter to break was coming.

Tsukishima gave the score board a quick glance. 30-29, in favor of Karasuno. It would be a great time for him to break. One more point and this set would be Karasuno’s.

Shirabu set the ball, and as soon as it left his hand, Tsukishima knew that the time he had been waiting for has come. The panic to escape his block had resulted in a toss that was slightly too low and too close to the net.

Tsukishima rushed to where Azumane was at and jumped as high as he could, the movie when Kuroo blocked Bokuto at the training camp played before his eyes and the promise to himself that he had told Yamaguchi sounded in his ears.

Positioning himself and his arms intentionally a little further away from Azumane, his trap was laid, and he waited. When Ushijima swung his left arm, full force, onto the ball, Tsukishima moved his block to the side last minute.

A sensation of something hitting the palm of his left hand and a thunderous sound like Azumane’s spike landing on the court left his arms twitching and his ears ringing. Tsukishima fell back at the impact. In that split seconds, he saw Ushijima’s widen eyes and his stunned expression.

_‘I plan on stopping at least a few of his spikes.’_

The audience were loud, a sound of disbelief and amazement rang around the gymnasium. As soon as the score was adjusted, Tanaka and Nishinoya jumped on him like a pair of clingy monkeys, saying something along the line of ‘That was an amazing block!’ and ‘You looked so cool back there!’ Following after them were Sawamura and Azumane who gave him more compliments.

Tsukishima blinked. It’s not like he was the one who scored, more like Shiratorizawa’s setter gave Karasuno their point with his mistake. So he explained about how Shirabu had been pressured from Nishinoya’s receives and Kageyama and Hinata’s relentless attacks that continued to break through their blocks.

Both third years had an I-don’t-know-if-I-should-be-scared-or-be-grateful-to-have-you-on-our-team on their faces.

“That’s scary,” the captain said with the same expression, “You’re scary, Tsukishima.”

Hearing Sawamura’s sort-of-compliment, Tsukishima thought that it was nothing new. He had always been an observer, content to sit on the side and not be noticed, all the while collecting information calmly. Always armed himself with sarcastic words and well-aimed jabs at the place where he knew it hurt the most, Tsukishima took great joy in seeing other people seethe and try to recover whatever pride that he had nipped away. In a way, he could understand why others thought people like him were scary.

They got a short break before the third set started, so Tsukishima sat down on the beach and thanked Shimizu for the water bottle. He looked around while drinking to keep himself hydrated, noticing many people in the audience talking to each other and pointing their fingers at him. When he looked to Shiratorizawa’s side, he found that Tendou was already looking at him. He stared back blankly until the guy was called to gather by his coach.

Tsukishima saw Kageyama walking towards him, looking like he had something to say, and thought back to the conversation they shared this morning in whatever privacy they could have at a secluded area in the gymnasium building. Kageyama stopped right in front of Tsukishima and opened his mouth.

“Everyone, gather up!” Coach Ukai decided that it was time to review some strategy.

Kageyama paused and frowned, he looked back at the bench where their teammates started to form a half circle before turning to Tsukishima.

“Let’s go,” Tsukishima said, standing up, “we can do whatever you planned to do when we win.”

Kageyama nodded without a protest. “Okay.”

The third and fourth set were not so different from the first two, Tsukishima ran around whenever he was at the front row, jumping everywhere the sets went and sticking his hands in front of every Shiratorizawa’s spikers’ faces. Everything was going well, many ‘one touch!’s and a lot of ‘So persistent!’s, until one particular spike from Ushijima that Tanaka and he had jumped up for a block together.

It was powerful, like any of the ace’s spike. Tsukishima gasped as it graced the tip of his right pinky and veered off to the side of the court, out of the line. The referee whistled, a point for Karasuno, but Tsukishima knew better. As he had expected, a moment later, the decision was overturned because there was a block touch, and the point went to Shiratorizawa instead.

Tsukishima clutched his right hand with his left, pain shot up to his elbow. The junction between his ring finger and his pinky finger was bleeding. He wondered if he could keep playing without anyone noticing his injury, but no such luck. Even if his teammates in the court didn’t see (they did because such an obvious injury and the blood couldn’t just escape people’s eyes), Kageyama who was on the bench surely did. While Coach Ukai and Shimizu were fussing with his injury, he looked at Kageyama. Tsukishima saw horror in his blue eyes.

Tsukishima tried to convey his message through his eyes. _It’s doesn’t hurt much. Don’t worry. I’ll be back._ Hopefully Kageyama will understand.

_Just when it was going well,_ Tsukishima grounded his jaws at the thought as he walked out of the arena, but a talk from Shimiza got him out of his anxious hazy. Right, there was no way Karasuno would lose. He had to believe in his teammates. In Kageyama.

Even when the doctor examined his injury, all Tsukishima could think of was the match. He raked up whatever knowledge he knew of his team and the teammates and simulated the situation as accurately as he could. He thought about what the game momentum would be like when he went back, how the team would be holding up, and planned what he would do when his feet took him into the court again.

He got his finger taped and the movement after that was a blur. He remembered rushing from the infirmary to the court and explained that the injury was nothing much, that he could go back and play, to Coach Ukai with a voice that indicated he would take no objection.

When Coach Ukai nodded after confirming his statement with Shimizu, Tsukishima sat down on the bench with a number plate in hand, ready to be subbed in. He looked at the score board. 15-14, with Shiratorizawa in the lead.

It was Shiratorizawa’s turn to serve, and they subbed in a jump floater. Sawamura nicely received it. Tsukishima knew he was making the I-don’t-care face that people like to say, but he was paying attention. He caught what Kageyama planned to do: a setter dump. Even though Tendou manage to get a touch on it, the point way theirs.

Tsukishima didn’t want to flatter himself too much, but he thought Kageyama’s decision might have something to do with him being back. Now that their scores were at deuce, Tsukishima had a less pressuring comeback. One more mistake he could make.

Narita, who was playing in Tsukishima’s place, was subbed out. Tsukishima walked in and ignored his teammates’ excited welcome, going straight into explaining the plan that he had spent the entire doctor session contemplating.

When Karasuno went back to their starting position, Tsukishima and Kageyama was at the front row. None of them said any word. No sight was exchanged, or at least until Tsukishima spoke up.

“I doubt you would, but you don’t need to hold back.”

“If you don’t think I’m going to, then don’t say it,” Kageyama replied, his voice the usual low tone. He sounded relieved. “And I won’t.”

As though those words were some kind of inside phrase, they smirked and felt confidence creeping up their spine. Yes, they wouldn’t lose.

Azamune’s serve was powerful, though playable for Shiratorizawa. Tsukishima looked around from one player to another, collecting information. Tendou called and jumped for a spike, but as Karasuno’s stronghold for blocking, he knew better than to respond and be caught in a trap. The ball hadn’t left the setter’s hands yet, so he waited, his leg muscles tensed, ready to rush to either side of the net as soon as the direction was decided.

It was a toss for Ushijima, like his hunch had told him. Tsukishima ran to the left to join with Tanaka and jumped, putting himself in the middle of the spiker’s dominant arm as he was taught. Gritting his teeth as the ball’s trajectory hit his injured finger, he reflected on everything he had experienced since he had joined Karasuno. Well, no, maybe before that. Since he had started playing volleyball.

Tsukishima practiced just the required amount and opted out of other extra trainings that Kageyama and Hinata did. He had always made sure to stay at the mediocre level, not performing too bad to be blamed for losing a match, but also not too great to be noticed by anyone. He was content with being an invisible wall of Karasuno. He didn’t want unnecessary disappointment. That is why…

_This is stupid,_ he berated himself as he fell back, _I’m not Hinata. Why do I want to fight until the very end?_

This was so not like him. He hated uselessly hot-headed people. He hated trying too hard. He hated comparing himself with someone who was equipped with both talents and experiences. So why? Why were his limbs vibrating with anticipation and his lungs yearned for a declaration? He wondered what it would feel like to yell each success with a carefree spirit like Hinata, to finally step out of this self-made cage.

He inhaled a long breath and shouted will all his might. “One touch!” And it felt good.

Karasuno couldn’t turn the ball into an attack, so Saamura passed it over the net and fell back to prepare for another vicious attack. Shirabu set for Ushijima again, and Tsukishima didn’t let the slight pause in the ace’s footstep escaped his eyes.

_A delayed attack from the right._

“We’re opening the way!” He told Tanaka and timed the block. Nishinoya was behind them as planned. The spike was sent straight to Nishinoya as they had already eliminated the path of a cross. They were able to make an attack, with Tsukishima as a decoy and Azumane spiked, but Shiratorizawa received it, albeit with shaky connections.

Ushijima spiked for the third time in a row. The pressure was immense, like that spike just made a statement of how powerful and far ahead Ushijima was. But Tsukishima was not going to dwell on that. He had a game to play. And now that a super decoy like Hinata was not here, someone would have to make up for it.

Tsukishima moved, his legs took him across the front court to the opposite end of the net and jumped. Tendou was lured by it for a fraction of a second before realizing that it was a fake and went to block Tanaka, but he was too late. The ball zoomed passed the space between Tendou’s and Ushijima’s hands and landed on the court.

From then on, everything passed in a hazy blur. Tsukishima was constantly thinking but didn’t have enough focus to spare backtracking on anything. He recalled Shiratorizawa’s coach called for a time out. Then they were playing again.

He watched Kawanichi, Shiratorizawa’s ginger-haired middle blocker, jumped after using Ushijima as a decoy. However, he didn’t fall for it. After all, he was a read blocker. He was the type of player who enjoyed the last laugh. And so he jumped, and felt the familiar texture of a volleyball hit the tip of his hand.

“One touch!”

Then it was a blur again.

Tsukishima didn’t know if it was becoming a bad habit to simply detach himself from events that passed by and anything outside of the court to maintain his concentration. But the last thing he remembered was when Karasuno ran up for a synchronized attack and Hinata hit the ball that graced Shiratorizawa’s libero’s arm. It pierced through the air and land out of the court.

The whistle sounded. Just like that, they won. 19-21. All the efforts they had put in and the sweat they had shredded, victory came and passed in just a split of a second. The audience was quiet, before a booming scream filled the gymnasium.

Hinata, Kageyama, and Tsukishima watched the third years hugged and yelled with blank expression. The victory hadn’t quite registered in their minds yet. That was until the second years ran up to them and rounded them up in their arms.

They lined up and bowed to the opposing team and to the audience. The camera flashed with shutter noises that seemed too excessive for Tsukishima’s taste. He noticed that Kageyama had approached him and stood straight a few feet away, waiting for Tsukishima to turn to him.

Their conversation in the morning flashed in Tsukishima’s head again.

_“I heard what you said to Yamaguchi the other day,” Kageyama said while he was leaning on the wall next to him. Their fingers barely touching._

_“Eavesdropping?” The blonde accused lightly. His words had lost all their animosity it used to have._

_Kageyama ignored him, a skill he had acquired after having to deal with Tsukishima’s sense of sarcastic humor many months already. “I…prepare something for you, if you stop Ushijima’s spike,” he said._

_“Oh? What is this? Feeling generous, Your Highness?”_

_“It’s an encouragement…and a reward,” Kageyama answered simply while looking straight at the wall on the other side, before adding, “bestowed upon you by your King.”_

_Tsukishima was pretty sure his breathing stopping for a second there. That…was hot._

_“It’s good to know that you’ve expanded your vocabularies, King,” he teased._

Kageyama walked towards him and grabbed the front of Tsukishima’s jersey in his fist. He tugged the piece of clothes down, and the middle blocker went with it. At that very moment, Tsukishima had a very certain guess on what this reward was, and all he could think was: _Right here?_

The raven hair setter tipped up his chin and landed a soft peck on Tsukishima’s cheek. Tsukishima heard audible gasps from their teammates and a scream from Hinata. Maybe also shocked stares from Shiratorizawa’s side, but he felt that more than heard. Their relationship wasn’t a secret, but it wasn’t out in the open either. They didn’t go around announcing to people that they were going out and that they could pretty much call each other their boyfriend. The only people who knew are Karasuno’s volleyball team and a couple friends from other schools.

“Are they together?” The crowd whispered, as quiet as a group of hundreds of people could manage.

“I think so?”

“But I saw them swear at each other on the court!”

“You and your boyfriend do that all the time!”

The cameras’ rapid shutters, or what Tsukishima had dubbed ‘the machine gun,’ continued almost more rigorously, before Kageyama took a step back and gave him that creepy smile.

“Nice block.”

Tsukishima heard his brother’s voice from the exit because seriously, there was no way he could ignore those ‘Kei has a boyfriend and he didn’t tell me?!’ screech, but didn’t react on it like he usually did. Instead, he slowly raised his hand to touch the spot where faint warmth still radiated from and cocked his brows. Seemed like they were an official couple now, with these many people as their witnesses.

“What a gracious reward, King, in front of all the peasants.”

Kageyama huffed and walked back to the bench without forgetting to lead Tsukishima with him by the hands. “It’s about time we come out anyway.”

Tsukishima said absentmindedly and looked at his older brother who was crying and biting his handkerchief. “You’re right.”

When they went back to gather around with the team, Nishinoya was giving him sparkling eyes. “Damn, you couple stole the spotlight from us!”

True to his words, most of the cameras followed them, hungry for a scoop that would feature the genius setter’s personal life.

“Ah…I’m sorry?” Kageyama said with an ounce of hesitation, like he wasn’t sure if he should apologize or if that was what they wanted to hear. “Also, why are they screaming?”

Tsukishima knew Kageyama was referring to the girls upstairs.

“Because you took away their crush!” Tanaka answered simply, and Kageyama, as Tsukishima had expected, only made a confused face.

“Huh?” was his dumb reply.

“I hate to admit it,” Hinata started speaking with a face that everyone was sure he hated whatever he was about to say without him having to voice it out, “but Stingy-shima is crazily popular! When I went to the restroom, all the girls were talking about him! If I were you, I would be jealous, Bakayama!”

“Why would I be?” Kageyama’s expression was even more confused like what Hinata said made less sense than English words. “I’m his boyfriend, not them.”

Even though this was the first time such thing was brought up to him, Kageyama wasn’t surprised to hear that Tsukishima was fawned over. To be honest, it would be weirder if no one notice Tsukishima’s pretty face and towering height. Even with short hair, he was the definition of flower boy. Kageyama felt a fluttering feeling of pride in his chest at his boyfriend’s popularity.

“And you have just put them in their places back there,” Tsukishima smirked. He looked around and still saw the eyes on them. Oh well, if Kageyama didn’t care what people thought of him being gay, then Tsukishima figured he shouldn’t too. It was not him who was going to show his face on the world stage in the next couple years anyway.

Kageyama was looking at their team who were talking about nothing and everything. He had the side of his face to the blonde, so Tsukishima leaned in and bit the tip of Kageyama’s ear.

“Let them take some more pictures,” he whispered in the setter ears. Kageyama turned to him and open his mouth to ask what he meant, but Tsukishima went for his lips and gave him a quick, soft kiss.

Tsukishima had worried about the public’s reaction. The Japanese society might seem liberal, but homosexuality was still pretty much a taboo topic. Under the mask that everything was okay and that gays are humans too, many people weren’t willing to talk about it in public. He feared, not for himself. But for Kageyama.

The blonde had always known that Kageyama had something big waiting for him. He would become a star athlete and a public person. People would talk about him, about his personal life. And the subject of his sexuality would eventually come up. They might be able to keep it away from prying eyes, but perhaps he shouldn’t care.

Kageyama was okay with it, so Tsukishima was okay too.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to talk about TsukiKage, KageTsuki, or any other ships with me on Twitter! @BlaBlaBla__Me
> 
> All character has their own stories and relationship that is unique, so even though TsukiKage and KageTsuki is my main, I generally ship all of them ;)


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